Milestones

Global Initiative for Better Health (GIBH) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) to implement its Adopt-A-Clinic Initiative.  The Adopt-A-Clinic Initiative is an innovative approach that offers a unique opportunity for ‘adopters’ in the Diaspora to participate in the development of the health sector in Ethiopia. The Initiative aims to improve health services in Ethiopia by creating a partnership platform to solicit and engage the Ethiopian Diaspora in the worthy efforts to improve quality of health care.

How does it work?

A joint council composed of FMOH and GIBH will invite health facilities in Ethiopia to submit project proposals. The Council will then select projects for adoption through a competitive selection process. Project objectives must be met in the prescribed award period, and will be a determinative criterion used for selection. The projects that meet the requirements for funding and are selected will be posted on our website and other platforms, and the Diaspora community anywhere in the world will have the opportunity to adopt and support them financially. In the first year of the program, three healthcare-related projects will each be awarded $25,000. The number and size of awards will increase in subsequent phases. A detailed implementation plan about the Initiative and its funding formula will be released soon.

Benefits of the Adopt model of partnership:

• Direct engagement:  empowers ‘adopters’ in the Diaspora to directly participate in a project of their choices by allowing them to choose from health-related projects (called adoptees) that resonate with them.

• Transparency:  ensures transparency between ‘adopters’ (project supporters) and ‘adoptees’ (health facilities). Under this partnership model, an adopter commits to financially support a project of his or her choice and on the other hand, an ‘adoptee’ health facility commits to execute the project and provide regular and detailed reports on project progress to adopters, including offering opportunities for a visit to the project site.

• Sustainability: Direct engagement and transparency create conditions that will allow lasting partnerships to flourish between the beneficiary health institutions and adopters in the Diaspora, and which will in turn help to improve the quality of health services in Ethiopia.

GIBH is a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt, not-for-profit organization founded in Houston, Texas, United States, with a mission to improve the quality of health services in public health facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa and has been partnering with a maternal-neonatal hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.